1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera capable of inputting data associated with a photographed image and/or selectively displaying an image, from a series of recorded images, on a screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art that with a digital still camera or APS (Advanced Photo System) camera, data, i.e., character information which adds written comments to photographed images, can be recorded in a recording medium such as a memory card, or a photographic film for APS, with the photographed image. To record such character information, an device for inputting data, such as push button or cross key, is provided on the outer surface of camera, the user operates the buttons or keys to select one character from a series of preset characters or one comment from a set of preset comments, to input and record the character information.
Further, in the case of the digital still camera, a recorded image can be selectively displayed on a display, e.g. an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) provided at the back of the camera. At this time, one recorded image is selected from a plurality of images by operating the push buttons or the keys.
However, when the operator selects one from many characters, comments or images using the push buttons or the keys, the operator has to press repeatedly to select the character, comment or the image. This process is cumbersome and time consuming for the operator.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a camera that facilitates the operation of inputting data and/or the selecting an image displayed on the screen.
A camera of the present invention has a body and a lens barrel with a photographing optical system. The photographing optical system forms an object image and the object image is recorded to a recording medium detachably installed in the body. The camera has a rotating ring, a rotational position detector, a character memory, a character information recorder and a mode selector. The rotating ring is rotatably provided on an outer circumference of the lens barrel. The rotational position detector detects a rotational position of the rotating ring. In the character memory, a plurality of characters is stored as data. Character information is associated with the object image and defined on the bas is of the plurality of characters. Then, the character information is set by an operator. The character information recorder selectively reads characters, corresponding to the character information, from the plurality of characters stored in the character memory, and records the character information in the recording medium as additional data. The mode selector is provided for selecting one mode from at least a photographing mode for recording the object image and a data-input mode for setting and recording the character information. Then, in the present invention, the rotating ring operates as a device for setting a photographing condition when the photographing mode is selected, and the rotating ring operates as a device for setting the character information when the data-input mode is selected. When the photographing mode is selected, the photographing condition is changed in accordance with the position of the rotating ring. On the other hand, when the data-input mode is selected, the character information to be recorded in the recording medium is set in accordance with the position of the rotating ring.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a camera of the present invention has a body and a lens barrel with a photographing optical system. The photographing optical system forms an object image and the object image is recorded to a recording medium detachably installed in the body. The camera has a rotating ring, a rotational position detector, a character memory and a character information recorder. The rotating ring is rotatably provided on an outer circumference of the lens barrel. The rotational position detector detects a rotational position of the rotating ring. In the character memory, a plurality of characters is stored as data. Character information, associated with the object image and defined on the basis of the plurality of characters, is set by an operator. The character information recorder selectively reads characters, corresponding to the character information, from the plurality of characters stored in the character memory, and records the character information in the recording medium as additional data. Then, the rotating ring operates as a device for setting the character information. The character information to be recorded in the recording medium is set in accordance with the rotational position of the rotating ring.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a camera has a body and a lens barrel with a photographing optical system. A plurality of object images is recorded in a recording medium detachably installed in the body. The camera has a rotating ring, a display and a rotational position detector. The recording medium is provided for storing a plurality of object images as data. The display selectively displays an object image from the plurality of object images recorded in the recording medium. The rotating ring is rotatably provided on an outer circumference of the lens barrel. The rotational position detector detects the position of the rotating ring. The rotating ring operates as a device for selecting an object image from the plurality of object images. Namely, an object image to be displayed on the display is selected from the plurality of object images in accordance with the rotational position of the rotating ring.